Paris AA 1949

Robert Frank's photographic contact sheet, "Paris AA," captures a sequence of moments through a lens. There's a real sense of experimentation and discovery through process here, a journey through the streets of Paris. The composition, almost like a grid, invites you to explore the whole and the individual parts. Look closely. The tonal range, from deep blacks to nuanced grays, is really evocative. I’m particularly drawn to the strip with those red double ‘A’s scribbled across the surface of a photo, it really stands out. The red really contrasts with the muted black and white, an intervention over the original image which speaks to an ongoing engagement with the world through the process of artmaking. It’s almost like the artist is having a conversation with the city, or perhaps with himself. Frank's work is reminiscent of that of Henri Cartier-Bresson, where photography is a 'decisive moment'. But unlike Bresson, Frank embraces a more raw and less polished aesthetic. In the end, this piece reminds us that art is a way of making sense of the world, and of finding beauty in the unexpected.